Ok, so what on earth am I doing using 32% nitrox on a 14m diver.  Well I was booked to go and dive The Alaunia on my birthday a couple of days before which is a huge wreck in the middle of Eastbourne bay, but the dive was canceled due to windy weather and and the rough sea.  It seemed a shame to waste the gas but then diving this year has been cancelled alot due to windy days.

Anyway this was the maiden voyage of my new 6.5mm Oceanic semidry.  I didn’t wear a hood an undersuit or shortie over the top and I was nice and warm for a whole hour.  Splendid :-)  The Viz was low due to the poor weather for the previous few days, but there were loads of fish about and we watched a crab and a fish have a scuffle over a shellfish.

Unfortunately my brother-in-law ended up developing a sciatica attack and failed to make this next dive due to the discomfort and lack of sleep.  This dive was very similar to the previous one though and the rib was moored at exactly the same location at Mouro Island.

The visibility was a bit better than the previous day and I got stuck into taking a few pictures as we followed the wall of the Island at between 6 and 10 metres down.  Unfortunately towards the end of the dive condensation formed inside the  camera housing and there was no more point in taking pictures.  I did get a few nice shots though so I wasn’t too disappointed.

I didn’t see another octopus but there were alot more fish around and nudibranchs.  Some of the other divers apparently saw a shark further out in the bay.

Mouro Island is a marine nature reserve just off the port of Santander in Northern Spain.  The water is pretty cold as this coastline is exposed to the Atlantic and I did expect the water to be clearer.  The visibility was about 7 to 8 meters.

This was my brother-in-law’s first dive for quite a while, he last dived with me in Tenerife 2 years ago.  We sat down the night before and went through out of air and other drills, touching on subjects like the type of boat we would be diving from and keeping a close eye on air consumption.  He has done 50 dives and his experience showed as we discussed everything,

Anyway we zoomed out to the Island on a modern fast rib with 12 divers on board.  We dived with Acquatur, the only dive center I could find in the area before we went to Spain.  They have a good setup, plenty of equipment and everything looked like it had been properly taken care of, a far cry from some of the dive centers I have used in the past!

All the local divers put thier kit on in the water and didn’t do buddy checks.  We put all our kit on sitting on the side of the rib and did a full buddy check, then fell over backwards into the cool water.  I checked my buddy’s air a few times in the first 15 minutes and his air consumption was very good, he certainly seemed relaxed as we proceeded with our dive.

We saw fish, nudibranchs and towards the end of the dive I also spotted an octopus.  There was also a large conger eel hiding in a deep hole in the rocky island.  We did lose the diveleader who was diving with us after about 40 mins.  We knew he wouldn’t worry, he was aware of our experience and he was too busy taking photos, but we surfaced a couple of hundred meters from the boat and ended a lovely dive with a slow steady surface swim.

Time : 54 mins

Depth : 12.5m

Temp : 17 C

Ok, so I wasn’t paying enough attention to the skipper on this occasion and didn’t note which of the ledges we were diving on, but by the looks of it we started out at the far western end of the Kings Ledges.

Mark Threadgold and I jumped off the boat and headed down the shot line. At the bottom we secured ourselves with a buddy line (a necessary step when diving with Mark, google him or search for him on this site) and made off west along the ridge line as the tide was starting to come in after a low.

Mark put up an SMB straight away as requested by Paul Dyer (skipper) and we mostly drifted with the current. I spotted a couple of small lobsters along the way, plenty of fish, tube worms and a congar which was leaping around rather alot in it’s lair. There was the usual abundance of a variety of crabs and star fish and then towards the end of the dive we stumbled on a large, relaxed and friendly cuttle fish. Mark and I had to stop for a minute or two as there were other divers around and I didn’t want to get our SMB line snagged with someone elses. So I messed about signaling with two fingers to the cuttle fish whilst waiting for the others to go by. It was very receptive and started waving it’s two large tentacles back. Great fun

It’s not often that I have come across a cuttle fish in such a good mood and that definitely topped off a great fun dive.

Time : 46 mins

Depth : 7m

Temp : 15 C

I hadn’t visited this site before so I was looking forward to seeing what I could find. The skipper (Paul Dyer) said that the area was covered with rock gullies, perfect for grabbing the odd lobster or crab. So I hopped in wondering if it would be my lucky day and I would manage to go home with two lobsters.

The moment I hit the bottom I saw the tail of a small lobster sticking out from under a rock. I chased it around for a bit and then grabbed it, but it was too small to bring up so I let it go again. Then a few days later I was in waitrose looking at a rather small lobster at the fish counter on sale for £16 and I knew the one I had let go was bigger…. hmm.

Anyway after 10 minutes of rock gullies I seemed to end up gliding over nothing but sand for 15 minutes. As I started to quietly curse the skipper under my breath more of the rock gullies came into view and I chased a few more baby lobsters around. The sandy area had been covered in hermit crabs which were going about their business and having the occasional fight over a shell due to the desire to move house (or shell as it were).

I enjoyed the rocks and the reasonable viz and headed up without needing to stop due to the depth. That made a nice change.

Depth : 34m Temp : 14 C

Nitrox : 31%

I had to be feeling keen as I needed to be at the Marina at 6am to go on this dive. Although a little chilly as it was early morning, it was a lovely clear day and we headed out of the marina as scheduled. The wreck of the U130 lies a few miles south of The Birling Gap in Sussex. This 1st World War German submarine sank under tow on it’s way to get dismantled and now lies in a number of pieces across the bottom of the sea.

Before we started the dive my allocated buddy asked me if I would be ok on my own if we became separated. I said that I would and that pretty much set the tone for the dive. We started our descent and 20 metres down the shot line I could see shapes below me, considering the depth we were going to I was looking at them wondering what they were. Then I realised that I could already see the top of the wreck and I new I was in for a great dive in good visibility.

When I got to the bottom I looked around, checked out my equipment again and we then set off along the hull. The viz was about 10m which was superb and we could see large pieces of the wreck in clear light silhouetted against the light sand. There were plenty of fish around and soft corals on the steel plates. Then I spotted a huge old man of a lobster, it was an amazing size, living in a large steel tube beside the hull.  I think I have only ever seen one bigger in the Isle of Man a couple of years ago.

I got my torch out and peered in through an open bulk head doorway to look at the gloomy disarray of the interior. How 31 men managed to sail around in that thing I will never know. They must have been pretty small! I also went in a larger more open area of the wreck which was easy to access.

After nearly 1/2 an hours bottom time I had clocked up a bit of deco to do and my buddy was long gone as he was diving on air. So I grabbed a nice lobster (not the old man!) popped it in my goody bag and sent the bag up with my surface marker buoy. Then I slowly ascended and did my decostop enjoying the memory of the experience I had just had.

Depth : 15.5m Temp : 15 C

This time we dived the ledges just after high tide. We jumped in a little after slack water and headed west as the current was taking us in the opposite direction to the dive a few days ago.

The good news is that the plankton bloom has pretty much died away so there was plenty of light and nice viz, 5m. We saw a few congar eels, one of which must have been pretty big as it had a huge head which was poking out of a hole on the reef ledge. I also spotted a few soul, spider crabs and some great big table crabs. I must get into eating crab a bit more often as there have been some good ones around. Though I doubt they will be there for long. Just one lobster this time and he was definitely too smart for me.

As requested by Phil (who did a brief before the dive) I put my surface marker buoy up after 25 mins. It turned out that the skipper (Paul Dyer, Brighton Diver II) thought that we were all putting them up when we hit the bottom. So he was a bit spooked floating around on the surface without any markers to follow for half an hour! Let’s all salute Phil for his great communication skills!! And thanks for picking us all up Paul!

Depth : 12.5m Temp : 15 C

The current was moving fairly swiftly east by the time I dropped in onto this reef ledge. The water was pleasingly better than the previous dive with visibility up to 5m. I made the most of the first 15 minutes knowing that when I put my surface marker buoy up I would have no hope of swimming against the current, even to just hold my position.

I spotted some big congar eels and there were lots of fish about including some bream. I noticed a lobster as I put up my SMB, I grabbed it after teasing it with my hook for a bit, decided it was a little too small and put it back. It only had one claw. I will think twice next time as one of the other guys on the boat grabbed it and brought it up.

Right at the end of the reef I found a lovely big juicy lobster under a rock. I struggled to get it because of the speed of the current but I did manage to grab it. It had a nice thick tail and I started salivating at the thought of eating it, then I turned it over and oh no! It was covered in eggs, so I put it back, but it would have been a nice prize!

Depth : 26m Temp : 13 C

Not long after we set out from Brighton Marina at 7:45am on this bright and warm Sunday morning the Skipper of Brighton Diver II, Paul Dyer, (www.brightondiver.com) spotted a small pod of common dolphins heading west. They were about half a mile or so south of Brighton Marina.

As I watched my so called ‘buddy’ disappear below the surface while I was still on the boat, I realised that I would end up doing this dive solo. I was expecting the water to be a bit clearer, but when I got to the bottom it was obvious that I would need my splendid 4 LED torch. The viz was down to 2 - 3 metres due to the amount of plankton still hanging around in the water.

I had a bit of a look around the wreck which is pretty bashed up and then spotted a scallop… I’ve not heard of this wreck being one for scalloping before, so I kept my eyes peeled and went looking for a few more both on and off the wreck. I managed to find about 8 decent sized ones and a few tiddlers which I chucked back once I got a chance to have a look at them back on the surface. Though I did clock up 11 minutes of deco doing it. So it’s scallops for tea

Depth : 15.5m Temp : 13 C

The Inverclyde is a shipwreck lying about 3 miles southeast of Brighton Marina. This trawler saw service in both the first and second world wars and sank under tow in 1942. Nowadays it is scattered over the sea bed with parts appearing and disappearing as the sea bed shifts around. The boiler always stands proud of the bottom though, probably about 3m or so. On this dive I spotted a nice sized lobster hanging out under steel plates at the foot of the boiler but he was too smart for me!

The plankton bloom is still very evident, though I think it has now reached the final stage of stringyness before hopefully disappearing soon. The viz drifted in and out mostly due to the 11 or 12 divers that were down there kicking up the bottom. Cleared nicely to about 4m around the boiler though where we saw a lovely big plaice free swimming slowly across the wreckage. I decided to leave him alone…. maybe I am becoming a pacifist!! There were plenty of other fish hanging around plus a big colourful wrasse and a couple of cod.

We went out on a dive boat called Brighton Diver II. This is a great diving vessel run by the skipper Paul Dyer who in my opinion is an excellent dive skipper. He is a thoroughly experienced diver himself and has dived the area extensively. It shows in the dive and saftey briefings he gives and in the way that he takes care of the needs of everyone on board. Check out Paul’s services here www.brightondiver.com. And if that ain’t enough there is ample space on deck to have a game of football on the way home!

Depth : 14.6m Temp : 14 C

Brighton Marina Yacht Club own a number of permanent marker buoys which are used for sailing racing. Over time the chains that hold the buoys in place and the base of the buoys become covered in mussels and start to sink down under the increased weight. The dive section of the club undertake cleaning the mussels off the buoys and chains to keep them floating high in the water.

So after diving ship rocks we headed to No3 buoy to check on it and scrub it of mussels if necessary and there was always a chance that we would find mussels as fabulous as the load we got last year. They were superb, really juicy and meaty.

So I strapped my twins back on and did my usual triple summersault over the side of the rib. There turned out to be alot of mussels on the chain and I spent more than 20 minutes pulling them off in large clumps and letting them sink to the bottom. There were quite alot of anemonies on the chain too.

When I finished at the bottom I went to check out the pile of mussels that had amassed and see if there were any good ones. Ripping them off the chains stirred up muck in the water so most of the time the visibily was so low that I wasn’t able to get a good look at them. Alas they were a little bit small so I decided not to take any, but whilst down there I did see some baby sole flitting about on the bottom.

The downside was that I was absolutely covered in sea bugs when I came up, it seems that they like to hang out with mussels from time to time. I think David called them Gabis or something, I will have to ask him again. My fellow divers scrubbed me when I reached the surface, and I still had to wash my kit down twice when we got back to get rid of them all. Lovely !

Depth : 12m Temp : 14 C

Ship rocks is a reef ledge a few miles south west of Brighton Marina, a site that my dive club regularly visits. The annual plankton bloom was definitely in full swing when I dived 10 days ago but on this dive it was obvious that it is starting to clear up. It has reached that stringy stage where I can see plankton strings which are two or three inches long and the visibility was between 3 and 4 metres depending on how much we kicked up the bottom !

So the viz was nice and at 12m it was good and bright due to the lovely calm and clear day on the surface. My buddy and I were diving with a buddy line, a bit strange you might think at a shallow depth in reasonable viz but then Mark Threadgold (google him) is a remarkable and thoroughly experienced diver especially considering the fact that he is completely blind. Everytime I watch him disappear over the side of a boat strapped to his modified rebreather I take my hat off to him. Or my neoprene hood as it were

We hopped over the side and descended to the bottom of the shot line. A few metres down I realised that I had not switched my computer into dive mode and quickly rectified that with a few button presses. When I got to the bottom of the shot line Mark was waiting for me. I grabbed his buddy line, clipped it on to my BC and watched him get his underwater digital camera out and switch it on. Yup, believe it or not this fella is into underwater photography! Funny thing was it didn’t look like it was switched on but then when he turned it to towards me to check, he was holding the lens against a black suit, so maybe that’s why I thought the black screen meant it was still switched off… (Unfortunately we didn’t figure that out until we got back to the surface, doh!)

Anyway, we bumbled along, exploring the reef ledge and headed up as planned 40 minutes into the dive. I made the decision to switch to my thin thermal before this dive as the temperature of the water has reached 14 C, it turned out to be a good choice. I shed a couple of kilos of weight and was still warm when I hit the surface after a 3 minute safety stop at 5 metres.

We saw lots of life on the dive. I spotted a whole load of shrimps hanging out in a hole and popped my head in to take a closer look… only to find a slightly startled congar staring back at me! There were lots of blennies about and plenty of wrasse hanging around, a couple of decent sized crabs too. I didn’t grab them even though they were looking a bit tasty. I didn’t see any lobsters though (my favourite!).

After getting all our kit back on the boat we headed of to No3 Bouy to check if there were any mussels hanging on the chain. On my way there I cast my mind back to last year when we cleaned one of the buoys and got the best mussles off it that I think I have ever had, they were delightfully big and juicy. So that scumptious memory was in my mind as the buoy came into site…